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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000519A
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00:01 BREATH OF LIFE MINISTRIES PRESENTS 519 Graven Images
00:20 PB: The Word of God says to us tonight in Exodus chapter 20, 00:23 verse number 4: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven"- 00:26 -what, everybody? Aud.: Image. 00:28 PB: "Or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, 00:31 or that is in the earth"--where? Aud.: Beneath. 00:33 PB: "Or that is in the water under the earth. 00:34 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: 00:39 for I the LORD thy God am a"--what kind of God? 00:41 Aud.: Jealous God. PB: What kind of God, everybody? 00:43 Aud.: Jealous God. PB: Jealous God. 00:45 "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the 00:46 children unto the third and fourth generation of 00:49 them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands 00:53 of them that love me, and keep my"--what, everybody? 00:57 Aud.: Commandments. PB: Father, in the name of Jesus 00:59 and the intercession of the Holy Spirit, You are here. 01:02 We want You to remain here with us. Now, God, 01:05 we have fellowshipped and we have sung, 01:07 but now we need a Word from You. So God, 01:09 give us that Word tonight. If we don't hear from You, 01:13 Lord, what will we do? So, Lord, immerse me in Your Spirit. 01:17 Go beyond these printed notes, and may Your Holy Ghost 01:20 reign supreme in this place tonight. Set a captive free tonight. 01:25 Set somebody who's bound free tonight, because, Lord, 01:29 if the Son sets us free, You said in Your Word we shall 01:33 be free indeed. So tonight we want to be free in the 01:36 name of Jesus. So bless us through this Word, 01:38 love letter, and commandment two. 01:40 Forgive me of my sins. IN the name of Jesus we pray. 01:42 Let everyone say amen. Aud.: Amen. 01:44 PB: And amen. You may be seated tonight in 01:46 the presence of God. Commandment number 2, 01:49 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. 01:55 Everybody say image. Aud.: Image. 01:56 PB: In fact, say graven image. Aud.: Graven image. 01:59 PB: Now, of the Ten Commandments, it's the second 02:01 one that doesn't bother us the most. We'll argue and 02:06 pitch a fit about the Sabbath. We'll debate about lying, 02:11 adultery, stealing, but we won't spend much time on 02:17 the second commandment. And everyone says, Pastor Byrd, 02:21 you're wasting your time even mentioning this 02:23 commandment to me, because I'd never bow down to 02:26 any graven image. But it's amazing that during 02:30 Christmastime I always see a lot of people entering 02:34 the shrine of what we call the mall. And kneeling at 02:39 the altar of all of these stores that we pay more 02:42 than a tithe to get something back. 02:45 Do I have a witness in this place? [Aud. reaction] 02:47 PB: We don't use cash anymore. But we use plastic. 02:51 And we give our offerings to these gods called Dillards, 02:56 Macy's, Belk, St. Johns, Chico's, or maybe if you're 03:06 like me, on my salary, good ol' Walmart and Target. 03:09 Come on, say amen. [Aud. reaction] 03:11 PB: These gods work very strangely. In fact, 03:15 they say if you don't keep up with your payment, 03:19 we will repossess what we gave you. It's at these 03:23 altars that concerns me, because many of us are 03:26 worshiping at these peculiar temples and have no 03:30 idea that this is where we're pledging our devotions. 03:34 This love letter, love letter [Aud. reaction] two, 03:37 is not a restrictive letter in the negative sense, 03:41 but it's really a no that means yes. It is not to narrow 03:46 the lanes of life but to broaden the avenues of life. 03:50 It is not to restrict us but to liberate us. It is not 03:55 to hold us back, but this love letter is to help us through. 03:59 Remember the setting from which it was given. This law 04:02 was given when Moses was on Mount Sinai. Moses is on the 04:08 top of the mountain, and God speaks to him and 04:10 God sketches up His law on two tables of stone. 04:15 He says to Moses, Moses take these Ten Commandments, 04:20 take these ten love letters back to my people. 04:23 And while Moses is receiving these ten letters, 04:26 the children of Israel, who have been brought out of Egypt, 04:29 brought out of slavery, brought out of bondage by this 04:32 awesome God, who has written out His own words there 04:35 below the mountain, breaking love letter [Aud. reaction]2. 04:39 They're pleading with Aaron. Aaron, use your artistry. 04:43 Use your skill and make us a god that we can worship. 04:48 Aaron gives in to their demands, and Aaron receives the 04:52 silver, the gold, the bronze, and Aaron begins to make 04:57 a golden calf. Now this brings conflict, because it seems 05:02 as if Aaron here is introducing idol worship. But that's 05:07 really not what's happening. Aaron hasn't lost his love for God. 05:12 The people have not lost their love for God, but they've 05:15 shifted their loyalties. They wanted a god that was tangible, 05:20 touchable, reachable, see-able. They wanted a god they could 05:25 perceive with their senses. They wanted a god that if they saw it, 05:29 they would know how it looks; if they heard it, how it would sound. 05:33 If it spoke, how it would be uttered. If they touched it, 05:38 how it would be felt. That's what they wanted to know. 05:41 But this is why God says what He says in this commandment. 05:45 He says, if you're going to love Me, you can't reduce me 05:50 to some image. If you're going to love Me, you can't reduce 05:54 Me to some wood. If you're going to love Me, you can't 06:00 reduce Me to a golden calf. Thou shalt not make unto thee 06:01 any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in 06:04 the heaven above, in the earth beneath, or in the waters 06:07 under the earth. In other words, you can't image Me. 06:11 You can't draw Me. You can't picture Me. My ways are 06:18 not your ways; your thoughts are not My thoughts. 06:21 For as high as the heavens above the earth, 06:23 My ways are your ways. And that speaks of the divinity 06:26 of God, that God is above any and everything we could 06:30 ever imagine. It prohibits us from limiting us in these 06:34 human shapes and sizes that we are so accustomed to doing. 06:37 You see, what some of us want is a God we can manage. 06:41 A God we can control. A God that we can call on just 06:46 when we have something that needs to be done. 06:48 But don't make God into a type of spare tire God, 06:52 where you take Him out of the trunk when your life 06:55 goes flat and you ride Him until you get where you 06:57 want to go, and when you get there you put Him back 06:59 in the trunk until you need Him again. 07:02 God is beyond our management. God is beyond our control. 07:08 God is beyond any image. God is beyond any picture of 07:14 what we think He should be. Don't you reduce God's 07:17 transcendence into some temporary picture of who you 07:20 think God is or who you think God should be. 07:23 But if you do want to look at God, look at Jesus. 07:29 If you would know who God is, you must first know Jesus. 07:34 If you would have the grace of God, seek Jesus. 07:38 If you would know the love of God, you've got to love Jesus. 07:42 If you would know and have the salvation of God, 07:45 you must trust Jesus. If you desire blessings from God, 07:49 you've got to tell Jesus. If you want to know the will 07:52 of God, you'd better ask Jesus. And if you want to 07:56 live eternally with God, you'd better live in Jesus. 08:00 [Aud. reaction] PB: The best we have about God is in Jesus. 08:04 But I must confess tonight, after I go through all of that, 08:08 that I'm getting concerned in the 21st century. 08:11 I'm getting concerned that in our postmodern, 08:14 contemporary society, that I'm hearing too many 08:19 people talk about God in familiar terms. 08:23 They just wake up like they do, and they seem to 08:27 wake up and shake hands with God, like God is 08:29 their home boy. But this is the directive of this love letter: 08:33 God says, love Me, but don't approach me with 08:36 that kind of familiarity. Because whenever you 08:39 begin to reduce God, you being to approach God 08:41 in a way which is familiar and you practice nepotism with God. 08:46 None of has the right to come at God with such familiarity, 08:51 frivolity, and foolishness. In the creation narrative, 08:55 we must understand and we see why God sets the celestial 08:58 in the heavens. God puts the beasts of the field on the earth. 09:03 God deals with marine life in the waters. And God is 09:07 saying that there is no star, no moon, no sun, 09:12 no galaxy that you are to image and assume He's like. 09:17 God wants us to know tonight, you are not to look at wood, 09:20 you are not to look at gold, you are not to look at 09:22 metal on earth and say I'm like that. You are not to 09:26 look at the waters and find some mysterious moving 09:27 figure and say I'm like that. God says, the reason 09:30 why they cannot be Me is because I created them. 09:35 [Aud. reaction] PB: Creation can never speak the 09:39 creator into anything. God is the creator; 09:44 we are the creation. God is the landlord; 09:48 we are the tenants. Man was made in God's image; 09:53 God was not made in man's image. God is saying, 09:56 no image that you use is enough to define or 09:59 describe my divinity. There is nothing on earth 10:03 you can compare Me to. Your God is too small; 10:06 you've got to learn how to approach God with respect. 10:09 Approach God with reverence. How dare you- 10:14 -I hear people refer to God as "Big G" and Jesus as 10:19 "J.C." This is the reduction of the divine. 10:23 A reduction of the transcendent. When we come to God, 10:27 we ought to come to God with holiness. 10:29 [Aud. reaction] PB: We ought to glory when we 10:31 come into the presence of the Most High God. 10:33 When the angels come into the presence of God, 10:36 they immediately fall down and say, holy, holy, holy! 10:41 [Aud. reaction] PB: God continues in verse 5. 10:46 He tells us that there is a punishment for those 10:50 who reject the divinity of God. God tells us in 10:53 verse number 5, that if we're going to love Him, 10:55 we are not to bow down to anything or anybody 10:57 other than Him. And then God throws in something 11:00 else about Himself--I like this. God says in 11:02 verse number 5, let me give you an attribute of Myself. 11:06 I am a jealous God. He says, I am a jealous God. 11:13 Now, let's not misinterpret God, because this word 11:16 "jealous" is not to be mistaken for how some of us operate. 11:20 You see, when we think of jealousy, we tend to 11:25 think of it as something negative. When we think 11:28 of jealousy, we think of the husband who will not 11:31 trust his wife regardless of her years of faithfulness. 11:35 We think of the neighbor, friend, family member, 11:37 coworker who hates on us, hates on the successes of others, 11:43 and barely contains their joy at the failures of 11:46 others because he is jealous. But let me give you 11:50 some advice: Don't hate the player, hate the game. 11:53 I wish I had a witness in this place. [Aud. reaction] 11:54 PB: If God is blessing him and him and her and her, 11:56 God must be in the neighborhood and it's just a matter 11:58 of time before God blesses me. I wish I had a witness 12:00 in this place. The true object of the jealous person's 12:04 concern is themselves. They cannot tolerate the 12:08 thought of someone else having something they don't. 12:12 And so they become jealous. Jealousy is rooted in envy; 12:16 a self-serving hatred of someone because you want 12:21 what they have. Be careful of asking for what 12:24 somebody else has. If the grass is greener on 12:27 the other side, you'd better believe the water 12:28 bill is higher. I wish I had a witness in this place 12:30 [Aud. reaction] PB: There's a distinction 12:33 between envy now, and jealousy. Jealousy can 12:37 be good or bad, dependent on the object of the 12:41 jealousy and the reason for the jealousy. Envy, 12:45 which is a completely different word in the Greek, 12:47 is nearly always bad. Envy is a feeling of 12:51 displeasure over the blessings somebody else 12:54 is enjoying. Jealousy makes us want what others 12:57 are enjoying, but envy makes us want to deprive 13:00 them of that enjoyment. But God is not envious of us. 13:07 This is not what the Bible means when it says that 13:11 God is a jealous God. There is a big difference- 13:15 -listen to me carefully--between being jealous of 13:18 someone and being jealous for someone. True love is 13:25 never jealous of someone, but true love is always 13:30 jealous for the person you love. This is what God 13:34 is trying to tell us. God is trying to tell us, 13:37 I'm jealous for you. He doesn't want you worshiping 13:40 anything or anybody else. He says, I am a jealous God. 13:46 We are His people. We are the sheep of His pasture. 13:50 God is not envious of us; God has a holy zeal for us. 13:57 What God is saying is simply this: I'm not insecure. 14:01 I'm not paranoid. For who can rival the I Am? 14:07 You all don't hear what I'm saying. [Aud. reaction] 14:09 PB: I already told you in love letter [Aud. reaction]1 14:12 that I Am the Lord thy God. But I'll tell you what, 14:17 God says I'm jealous, because I will not tolerate you 14:20 giving allegiance to anyone other than me, 14:22 when I brought you out in the first place and 14:25 I will destroy any idol that gets in the way 14:28 of trying to reduce Me down to your size. You see, 14:35 anything that is other than God is just that. 14:39 It may have all the image of what you think a god 14:44 ought to look like, but it can't be God. Because 14:48 there's only one God. And the danger is this, 14:51 friends of mine: when we kneel down at the shrines 14:55 of our jobs; when we bow at the altars of our careers; 15:01 when we bow at the worshiping of our families, 15:03 our homes, our cars, our clothes and our money, 15:07 what happens is we become inferior to that which 15:10 is inferior, but your inferiority makes it superior. 15:14 What am I saying? In the Old Testament, 15:17 the people would bow down to these idols. 15:19 And when they'd bow down to them--particularly 15:21 the bells were known for their fruitfulness and there's 15:23 an agricultural worship and there's sexuality for fruitfuness on it. 15:26 So people would bow down at these gods. Now, 15:28 the problem with that is this: God's creation became 15:32 inferior and made these lifeless images superior. 15:35 And as the inferior appeals to the superior, 15:38 the inferior was saying that the superior--the idol- 15:41 -had something that they needed. But the question tonight is this: 15:44 How can that which is not give you which is what you need? 15:49 You all don't hear what I'm saying. Somebody says, Pastor Byrd, 15:54 but I don't have any images of God. But I argue that all of us, 16:00 at some time or another, have tried to cut down God to size. 16:05 Because whenever you start talking to God and all you want from 16:08 God is more money, you've reduced and rejected God. 16:11 You don't have to agree with me tonight, but I'm telling you 16:14 that when all you want from God is another car, another house, 16:19 you've rejected and reduced God. When all you think God is 16:24 good for is to give you a new suit, a new dress, 16:28 you've reduced and rejected God. God is more than the stuff you possess. 16:34 [Aud. reaction] PB: God is more than the stuff you can buy. 16:38 God is more than the stuff you can get. The earth is the Lord's; 16:43 the fullness thereof. The world and all them that dwell therein. 16:47 God will be your God, but you will not be God's god. 16:52 God is still in control of creation and that which He has created. 16:56 God says, because you've rejected Me, I'm a jealous God. 17:01 And He continues in verse number 5 by saying, Because of 17:04 this I'm going to curse the children of the fathers through 17:10 the generations. The text specifically states, and I'll read it: 17:15 Visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children 17:19 into the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me. 17:22 Now, let's understand what we've just read. This text is 17:27 not about generational curses--listen to me good. Stay with me. 17:32 When Moses was up on Mount Sinai, God told him when you 17:37 get down from this mountain, you're going to be shocked 17:41 at what you see going on. Aaron crafted this golden calf, 17:46 and now they're down at the foot of the mountain 17:49 worshiping this calf. The children of Israel are worshiping 17:53 this golden calf and they think God is in it. That's why you'd 17:59 better make sure, friends, that when you worship God, 18:01 you're worshiping God in Spirit and in truth. 18:03 Because all this we see people saying is worship 18:06 is not worship; all that looks like holiness is not holiness; 18:10 all that talks like holiness is not holiness; all that prays 18:13 like holiness is not holiness; all that shouts like 18:16 holiness is not holiness, because holiness is not about 18:20 how high you jump when you shout, but how straight 18:22 you walk when you come back down. [Aud. reaction] 18:25 PB: The devil goes to church, too. The children of 18:32 Israel are shouting on this calf, and they think 18:37 God is in it. They're trying to worship Him as if 18:43 it were it that got them out of Egypt. 18:46 They're trying to worship it as if it were 18:51 feeding them in the wilderness. They're worshiping 18:54 the golden calf like it was the One that opened 18:58 up the Red Sea. They're trying to worship the golden 19:02 calf like it was the One who gave them a pillar of 19:05 cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. 19:08 They tried to worship it and reduce God down to it. 19:14 But God told Moses: Moses, when you get down there, 19:20 you can't lock Me up into any idol or image. 19:26 Everything they used, I'm the One who made it 19:30 in the first place. And when you get down there, 19:34 Brother Moses, tell them the danger is this: 19:37 the way they worship Me is how they're going 19:39 to transfer worship down to their children. 19:42 [Aud. reaction] PB: In other words, 19:45 the tendencies of the father become the traits 19:49 of the children. What God is saying, then, is this: 19:54 I'm not sending a curse down to you, but you're 19:59 sending a curse down to your own children. 20:03 Can I be real tonight? Let me show you what 20:07 I'm talking about. Now, right about now I need 20:09 you to know, I'm speaking to the men in this place. 20:13 Verse 5 is talking to the fathers. 20:16 It's talking to the men. God--listen to me good- 20:20 -people don't like to preach this anymore; 20:21 I'm going to preach it anyhow. God has given the man- 20:25 -and I'm not a male chauvinist, so don't even begin 20:28 to think that--God has given the man in the creative 20:32 order the responsibility to be priests of the home. 20:36 Do I have a witness in this place? [Aud. reaction] 20:39 PB: Like it, love it, hate it--it's the truth. 20:44 Men need to be men; women need to be women; 20:50 and women need to let the man be the man. 20:53 Preach, Pastor Byrd. I'm doing the best I can! 20:57 [Aud. reaction] PB: Men are supposed to be 21:00 the priests of their home and their families. 21:03 But as a priest, brothers, you've got a responsibility 21:08 to transfer the spiritual down to your children. 21:11 In other words, your children will worship 21:14 what you worship. If they see you worship your job, 21:17 they're going to worship their job. If they see 21:19 you worship your money, they're going to 21:21 worship their money. If they see you put 21:22 everything else in front of them, then they 21:23 will put everything else in front of their children. 21:25 And so, God says to the men: In the creative order, 21:29 I have put you as the priest of the family, 21:31 and as priest of the family, whether you're 21:33 in the house or not. If you have children--' 21:39 cause any man can make a baby, 21:44 but it takes a man to father a child. 21:46 [Aud. reaction] PB: If you are a father 21:50 and have children, you have a responsibility 21:52 to transfer the God that you worship down to them. 21:57 And what's wrong in our world today is this: 22:01 our people are under a curse because the priests 22:04 of our families have worshiped other gods 22:07 than the true God. If you don't believe me, 22:11 all these deaths, shootings, immorality, 22:16 drugs, gang-banging are a result of a godless society. 22:22 You can call them bad all you want, 22:24 but you can trace it back to a preceding generation 22:28 of a father who neglected giving God to his children. 22:32 Brothers, if we would just become the priests in 22:37 the culture, in our world, in our home, God will 22:41 begin to revolutionize where we live, and what 22:44 we need to do is to let our children see that 22:46 there is an Authority that's greater than us. 22:50 [Aud. reaction] PB: Somebody needs to let children 22:55 know that it's all right to stand up and worship God. 23:00 But also, every now and then, men you ought to 23:04 let your wife, your children, your mama, your woman, 23:09 your girlfriend, your fiancée, see you down on your 23:14 knees in the presence of God. [Aud. reaction] 23:18 PB: Let me tell you something. My wife and I, 23:20 we have three beautiful daughters, and I know my 23:22 girls love me. And they look at me as some 23:24 big-time preacher. But every now and then, 23:28 I've got to get down on my knees to let them 23:32 know that I answer to an Authority that's greater 23:35 than I am. Greater is He that is in me than he 23:40 that is in the world. But some folk come to 23:42 church and act like they're too good to bow down; 23:46 that they're too good to mess up their pants; 23:49 they're too good to mess up their suits; they're 23:51 too good to mess up their dress. Put a run in 23:54 their stockings or mess up something. 23:56 But I tell you what, in the name of Jesus, 23:59 when your survival is dependent upon God, 24:03 if bowing down is all I've got to do, I'll lay out! 24:08 I'll fall prostrate. I don't care if it's carpet or concrete. 24:14 If my people who are called by My name would humble 24:20 themselves and pray. Ask and it shall be given; 24:27 seek, ye shall find; knock and the door shall 24:33 be opened unto you. Do I have a witness in this place? 24:36 [Aud. reaction] PB: Church, we've got to pray, 24:38 and we've got to pass it down! But God's got one 24:44 more thing in this love letter. Look at verse number 6. 24:47 God says, "And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that 24:50 love me, and keep my commandments." What God is saying is this: 24:58 If you introduce your children that God is above everything, 25:04 and that God is creator of everything. If you pass 25:08 that down to your children, then your children will 25:12 pass that down to their children. And then, 25:17 your children will pass it down to their children 25:19 and your children's children will pass that down 25:22 to their children. And they will pass it down to 25:26 their children. And they will pass it down to their children. 25:29 I'm going to take my seat, but let me say this: 25:32 Go on and get the job; go on and get the promotion. 25:36 Make the money, get the house, get the car, get the clothes. 25:43 But God doesn't care anything about that. As long as you don't 25:49 make that represent who He is. Stop going around talking about, 25:54 you know what? Because you got the car, you've got divine favor, 25:59 when a drug dealer has a nicer car than you. What kind of 26:04 favor does he have? Excuse my English, but you've got 26:11 something he ain't got. You've got joy, when everybody's 26:19 sad around you. I wish I had a church in this place tonight. 26:22 [Aud. reaction] PB: You've got peace when folk can't 26:26 sleep at night. You've got hope in hopeless situations. 26:32 When folks start talking about where you live and start 26:35 talking about what you've got, tell them no, no, no. 26:38 You're looking in the wrong place. You're looking at 26:42 the wrong person. I want you to look at God, who owns 26:47 everything that I have. Where I live, what I drive, 26:54 what I wear, it all belongs to Him. Bless the Lord, 26:59 O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name! 27:05 The Lord is my Light and my salvation, whom shall I fear. 27:10 Whatever you need, God's got it. Give God the praise 27:13 tonight all over the building. 27:17 But God says, if you want Me to free it up, 27:25 learn how to bow down. That's all I want you to do, 27:35 is bow down. Prostrate yourself. Open up your hands. 27:46 Open up your hearts. Open up your mind. Open up your mouth, 27:57 and bless His name. Folk are talking about if I had 28:00 ten thousand tongues. God says, why don't you s tart 28:02 with the one tongue you've got right now! 28:06 [Aud. reaction] PB: If you're going to love Him, 28:09 love Him in the way-- 28:13 >: Thank you for joining us for another exciting 28:15 Breath of Life television broadcast. 28:17 Tune in next week at the same time, 28:19 as Dr. Byrd will deliver another dynamic message 28:22 from the Lord, just for you. 28:24 Until next time, may God bless you. 28:27 END |
Revised 2016-06-09